Hello, new and need advice

Hello all!
I've never posted on a forum before but here goes. I am not currently enrolled in a medical school as I am just starting to work on my Bachelor's degree in Psychology and I have a son due in January. I know this is a forum for people who are already enrolled in medical school or have a occupation in the medical field but I figured what better place to ask for advice than to come talk to the experts. I want to become a Child Psychiatrist and, when I get to that point, enter into the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Sadly at the moment I am just at the very start of this process so my question is...What steps do I need to take to get into Med school? How do I take care of a new born and go to school full time and work full time? Should I only work Part Time? What's a good way to pay for college and occasional childcare? How do I, for lack of a better phrase, "make it all work"? I am at a total loss here and with 10 weeks left and counting I will accept any and all advice available. I'd really appreciate any help anyone can give me.

1. Talk to the premed advisor at your school
2. Fulfil the premed requirements (usually biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics)
3. Get good grades, aim for GPA 3.5+
4. Take the MCAT during your junior year, aim for score 30+
5. Apply to med school at the end of your junior year

How do I take care of a new born and go to school full time and work full time?

Hold on there. You do not, actually, do that. A newborn needs to be cared for around the clock, 24 hours, 7 days. Anytime you are not available to care for the baby, you need to have someone else who is. You can have as many hours to do other things as you can find childcare for. I would advise picking one thing to do part time (school or work) for now, assuming you have someone who will care for the baby while you are doing that one thing..

What is your support system like? Do you have a spouse/partner? Family members who can take care of a young infant? Paid care lined up? This is what will determine how much school or work you will be able to fit into your new life as a mother.

I don't have much to add to tr_'s good advice, except that to say that there seem to be several paths that prepare you to take care of children's mental health. Child psychiatrists go to medical school first, then do residency in psychiatry, then maybe a fellowship in peds? It seems that there is a lot of pressure for child psychiatrists to prescribe meds. Then there are also psychologists who work with children and go through a whole different system of education and training after college. I know even less about that, except that they do not prescribe meds and they focus on therapy. Then there are mid-levels (nurse practitioners?) who are starting to encroach on the psych field and they can prescribe meds. And then finally there are doctors in other specialties (neurology, pediatrics, family practice) who sometimes prescribe psych meds because they cannot find a child psychiatrist to do it. Sorry, I am not in psych so I don't know all the details, but you might want to make sure you evaluate all the paths to child mental health before you decide which one is right for you.

Mentally, working full-time and going to school full-time with a child will fry your brain. Your sleep will be out of wack and your brain will not be able to digest what you would be trying to learn. Moreover, there will be many days of unexpected interruptions, because your baby won't let you know ahead of time if he will be sick or just really need your attention. I have been there and wished I made arrangements so that I would not had to work full-time. I know you have to eat, but really look into getting help from the government while taking classes and working very part-time or not at all. Some may disagree, but once you put a job in front of school it gets harder to finish. If you are single consider renting a one-bedroom or studio, look into the daycare at your school to see if you a discount for being a student, look into housing on campus if your financial aid would cover all of it. Take out the most financial aid you can take so that it can compensate for you not working full time. If you are able to utilize those resources and graduate without having to work or work full-time then please give back by volunteering and sharing your wisdom with other women.